NAPLES - A North Naples pizzeria filed a class-action lawsuit today against TECO Peoples Gas and Posen Construction, alleging their negligence caused a gas explosion that forced many businesses to shut down this month.

Lucarelli's Pizza & Deli, which is located at the Galleria on Vanderbilt Beach Road, filed the lawsuit in Lee County Circuit Court against Tampa-based TECO Energy System Inc., Peoples Gas System Inc. of Florida, and Posen Construction Inc. of Estero.

The lawsuit, which appears to be the first involving the explosion, was filed on behalf of Collier and Lee county businesses that lost money due to a Nov. 11 gas line explosion that occurred during the widening of Colonial Parkway in Fort Myers.

"They shut down much of their operations and lost a great deal of their income, as did most of the commercial establishments that are included within our class," said Naples attorney Mike McDonnell, who is co-counsel in the lawsuit with Gary L. Green.

"They're dragging their heels," McDonnell said of an investigation by TECO Peoples Gas. "These people need their money."

If a circuit judge certifies the lawsuit as a class-action claim, all other Lee and Collier businesses whose gas service was interrupted will receive formal notification of their inclusion in the class. That would enable them to participate as plaintiffs to recover their economic losses.

Jack Lucarelli, 40, who owns the 27-year-old pizzeria with his wife Donna and aunt, Cathy, said gas went out about 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11 and didn't return until late afternoon Nov. 16.

"We tried to open with propane and barbecue grills," Lucarelli said. "We had a band scheduled for Friday night and we tried to make it work with propane and a limited menu, but it didn't work."

Of two parties scheduled for that Saturday, he had to cancel one and charge the other group less due to a limited menu. That Sunday, he said, TECO officials said they'd have gas restored by Monday morning, so he called his regular crew in. But there was no gas.

"Then five trucks came by at 9:30 and they said, ‘We'll have you on within a half-hour.' I had guys waiting there all day, but we never heard from them again," he added. "The same thing happened the next day. It was just crazy."

Finally, he said, gas was restored in the late afternoon that Tuesday.

"We suffered even after that because people just assumed we were closed," Lucarelli said, adding that some did call. "For the most part, we were slow for the following week."

He estimated he lost at least $15,000, but won't know for sure until his accountant compares that period with past weeks and last year.

Most businesses had no gas for about three days, while some improvised by bringing in gas grills, cooking outside and changing their menus. Within a week, nearly all businesses had been restored, but by that time, many had lost thousands in income and profits. Some contacted their business-interruption insurers, but were told they weren't covered because it wasn't caused by an onsite incident.

The lawsuit alleges TECO and Peoples Gas System negligently failed to adequately mark and protect the gas line during the construction project and that Posen was negligent because it was warned not to dig until the lines were remarked.

"On Monday, Nov. 8, 2010, a TECO inspector noticed that the gas line markers were missing and told Posen that TECO would return to the construction site on Friday ... to replace the missing markers," the eight-page complaint says, accusing TECO of not promptly replacing the markers. "Posen nonetheless continued to dig without the markers in place and the rupture and explosion occurred on Thursday ..."

Mario Santos, 26, of Bonita Springs, a Posen employee, was operating the bulldozer that hit the 8-inch natural gas line, causing a major break in the Southwest Florida system that resulted in a loss of natural gas service to about 6,000 residential and 1,200 commercial customers in Lee and Collier counties.

The lawsuit contends businesses lost revenue because they were unable to use gas appliances for food preparation or other services, resulting in the "elimination or significant reduction of customers" and forcing them to incur other expenses to compensate for the loss of gas.

TECO officials claim the test stations and line markings identifying the gas pipe were destroyed during the widening project and blame Posen for continuing work despite warnings.

Posen Human Resources Director Rick Cook referred calls today to its attorney, Kevin Crews of Wicker, Smith, O'Hara, McCoy & Ford in Naples, who said, "At this time, we have no comment."

TECO spokesman Rick Morera couldn't be reached, but Peoples Gas President Gordon Gillette said last week that it's investigating and it was unclear whether TECO will pay any claims. If the accident is determined to be out of its control, he said, it won't be responsible for paying customer losses.